Unitary container holder

ABSTRACT

A unitary holder for cylindrical containers comprises a yoke for engaging the lip or rim on a bottle or beverage can. The yoke is connected to a grip by a horizontal extension and to a convex vertical portion which has an aperture for carrying a resilient clamp. The clamp extends circumferentially around a portion of the body of the container. Optionally, the holder also include a foot extending from the vertical portion for further supporting the container from its bottom.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Alfred P. Conger 728 Carlton Ave., Plainfield, NJ. 07060 [21] Appl. No. 852,001 [22] Filed Aug. 21, 1969 [45] Patented Oct. 5, 1971 [54] UNITARY CONTAINER HOLDER 1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 294/33, 215/100 A, 294/27 H [51] Int. Cl A47j 45/00 [50] Field of Search 294/27 H, 32, 33; 215/100 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 902,236 10/1908 Kintz 294133 X 2,463,651 3/1949 Stevens 294/33 X 2,610,081 9/1952 Bushman.... 294/33 X 3,177,025 4/1965 Short 294/33 Primary Examiner-Richard E, Aegerter Assistant ExaminerDouglas D. Watts Attorney-F. W. Padden ABSTRACT: A unitary holder for cylindrical containers comprises a yoke for engaging the lip or rim on a bottle or beverage can. The yoke is connected to a grip by a horizontal extension and to a convex vertical portion which has an aper' ture for carrying a resilient clamp. The clamp extends circum' ferentially around a portion of the body of the container. Op tionally, the holder also include a foot extending from the vertical portion for further supporting the container from its bottom.

PATENTED um 51971 FIG.

INVENTOR By ALFRED Ff CONGER ATTORNEY UNITARY CONTAINER HOLDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to holders for containers and, more particularly, to a unitary holder for cylindrical bottles and the like.

The prior art is replete with a wide variety of container holders which generally are characterized by multiple component parts including, for example, metallic straps or coil springs for engaging the body of a container. Others utilize resilient clamping bywelded wire configurations, loose wire bails coupled to a hinged, caming handle which wedges between the wire and container, or a spring-loaded handle which engages the top and bottom rims or beads of beverage cans. Each of the prior art holders suffers from one or more disadvantages including being complicated by the use of a plurality of independent component parts. Consequently, these holders require complex manufacturing and assembling processes with their attendant higher cost.

Usually the contents of the container are consumed from the container itself which is often cold and consequently collects condensation i.e., seats and is therefore difficult to grasp. Prior art holders, while avoiding the necessity of directly contacting such a wet container with the hand, are nonetheless heavy and cumbersome and do little in facilitating the holding and pouring of such containers. Furthermore, virtually all prior art holders are adapted to carry cans and rely upon the rim or bead at the top and bottom of the can to be functional. Few holders are conveniently adaptable for carrying bottles having tapered neck portions.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to facilitate the holding and pouring of containers.

It is another object of the invention to carry containers by means of a unitary holder.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a readily attachable and detachable container holder.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a holder for containers which avoids the necessity of contacting directly the container with ones hand.

One more objectof the present invention is to provide a holder for containers that is light weight, economical in manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

It is another object of the invention to provide a holder for containers which can be manufactured in a single step process from a single die or mold.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These and other objects are accomplished in a unitary holder for containers in accordance with the present invention. The holder in one embodiment comprises a yoke for engaging the lip on the neck of a bottle or similar container. The yoke is connected to a grip by a horizontal extension and to a convex vertical portion which has an aperture extending laterally therethrough for carrying a resilient clamp fabricated from plastic, wire or similar material. The clamp extends circumferentially around a portion of the body of the container. To provide adequate clamping, the clamp should preferably extend more than 180 arcuate degrees around the bottle. The convex surface of the vertical portion is adapted to be in contact with the curved body of the bottle and substantially complementary to the curvature thereof. Optionally, the holder also includes a foot extending from the vertical portion for further supporting the bottle from its bottom.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects of the invention, together with its various features and advantages, can be easily understood from the following more detailed discussion, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a holder in accordance with the invention showing a bottle in place;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the holder of FIG. I; and

FIG. 3 is a side view of a holder adapted for carrying a beverage can.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Turning now to FIG. 1, there is shown a unitary holder 10 for a cylindrical bottle 30 having a body portion 32 and a neck portion 34, the latter being typically provided with a lip or flange 36 at or near the mouth of the bottle. The holder 10, which is preferably fabricated from a plastic material in a single step process from a die or mold, comprises a grip 12 adapted to be held by the human hand. Although not shown, the grip may be optionally provided with a plurality of indentations on its inner surface 14 (FIG. 3) in order to assist in preventing the grip from slipping in ones hand. The grip 12 is spaced-apart from the bottle 30 by a horizontal member 12a in order that one s hand need not contact the bottle directly.

The extension is connected to a yoke or apertured member 18 which removably engages the lip, rim or flange 36 on neck 34 of bottle 30. In order to provide a secure fit and to insure reliable holding of the bottle, the inside diameter of the yoke 18 is preferably slightly less than the largest outside diameter of the lip 36. Thus, in order to attach the holder 10 to the bottle 30 it is necessary to apply a small amount of pressure to the yoke 18 causing it to snap into place around the lip 36.

To further insure stability in holding and pouring, the holder 10 is provided with a resilient circular clamp 20 which preferably extends more than arcuate degrees around the body portion 32 of bottle 30. Thus, portions 22a and 22b (FIG. 2) are shown so extended. Again, as with the yoke, the clamp effectively is snapped into place around the body of the bottle.

The clamp 20 is supported by a vertical member 24 which may either be integral with the clamp 20 or provided with an aperture at 26 whichextends horizontally through itself. In this latter instance, the clamp 20 could, for example, comprise a resilient metallic wire or other suitable elongated material inserted through the aperture as shown. The vertical portion 24 may, for added convenience, have its inside surface 240 convex in shape so as to be complementary thecurvature of body portion 32.

Optionally, and for additional stability, the holder 10 may be provided with a foot member 28 having a vertical member 28a appended to one end of the vertical member 24 and having a horizontal member 28b attached to the free end of member 28a. The horizontal member 28b is contiguous with a portion of the bottom 38 (FIG. 2), thereby to support the bottle 30 from its bottom.

Similarly, FIG. 3 shows a side view of the holder 10 adapted to carry a beverage can 40 (e.g. a beer can) having at least a top rim or head 42. In this case, the yoke 18 again has an inside diameter slightly smaller than the outside diameter of the rim 42, thereby allowing the yoke to be snapped into place. The remaining components of the holder and their functions are substantially identical to those described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

It is to e understood that the above-described arrangements are merely illustrative of the many possible specific embodiments which can be devised to represent application of the principles of the invention. Numerous and varied other arrangements can be devised in accordance with these principles by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In particular, the holder can readily be fabricated to support containers having geometrical shapes other than cylindrical merely by making the yoke and the clamp of a congruent shape.

What is claimed is:

l. A unitary plastic holder for use in carrying beer or soda containers having a cylindrical body portion, a circular opening for pouring the contents of the container, a neck portion tapered from the body portion to the opening. and a circular flange portion extending circumferentially around the opening, said holder comprising, in combination,

an L-shaped grip member adapted to be held in the human hand,

a closed circular yoke connected to said grip member for removably engaging the circular flange portion of the container, the inside diameter of said yoke being slightly less than the outside diameter of said circular flange portion to permit said yoke to e snapped into place over said flange portion,

a vertical support member having a vertical surface thereof contiguous with and complimentary to a portion of the cylindrical body of the container and further having a circular aperture extending horizontally therethrough in a circumferential direction with respect to the cylindrical surface of the container,

a resilient elongated flexible plastic clamp, circular in cross section, extending through said aperture in said support member and engaging the cylindrical body portion of the container by extending more than 180 arcuate degrees circumferentially around said body portion,

said L-shaped grip member comprising a first vertical handle member adapted to be held in the human hand and a horizontal member connecting said handle member to said yoke and separating said handle member from the container, said vertical support member being connected to said horizontal member and being substantially a right rectangular parallelepiped with the minor vertical surface thereof remote from said support member being curved in a horizontal plane,

a foot member for supporting the container from its bottom 

1. A unitary plastic holder for use in carrying beer or soda containers having a cylindrical body portion, a circular opening for pouring the contents of the container, a neck portion tapered from the body portion to the opening, and a circular flange portion extending circumferentially around the opening, said holder comprising, in combination, an L-shaped grip member adapted to be held in the human hand, a closed circular yoke connected to said grip member for removably engaging the circular flange portion of the container, the inside diameter of said yoke being slightly less than the outside diameter of said circular flange portion to permit said yoke to e snapped into place over said flange portion, a vertical support member having a vertical surface thereof contiguous with and complimentary to a portion of the cylindrical body of the container and further having a circular aperture extending horizontally therethrough in a circumferential direction with respect to the cylindrical surface of the container, a resilient elongated flexible plastic clamp, circular in cross section, extending through said aperture in said support member and engaging the cylindrical body portion of the container by extending more than 180 arcuate degrees circumferentially around said body portion, said L-shaped grip member comprising a first vertical handle member adapted to be held in the human hand and a horizontal member connecting said handle member to said yoke and separating said handle member from the container, said vertical support member being connected to said horizontal member and being substantially a right rectangular parallelepiped with the minor vertical surface thereof remote from said support member being curved in a horizontal plane, a foot member for supporting the container from its bottom comprising a second vertical member having one end connected to the bottommost end of said support member and a second horizontal member having one end thereof connected to the other end of said second vertical member and contiguous with a portion of the bottom of the container, the juncture of said bottommost end of said vertical support member and said one end of said second vertical member being constituted by a horizontal inward stp in the direction of the container. 